Chapter 112: Confrontation

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Confrontation

"So he’s already making his move..."

Hyuga Kagami mused to himself with a hint of amusement, the corners of his mouth curling upward slightly.

If unrest broke out in the village in the near future, then it would prove that his speculation had been correct. Uchiha Shinichi—a man who had left behind no noteworthy deeds whatsoever in the original timeline—had truly awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan in this one!

What Kagami hadn’t expected, however, was for Uchiha Shinichi to act so quickly.

After all, whether it was familiarizing himself with the abilities of the Mangekyō Sharingan or gathering intelligence before making a move, both required time. With only a few days having passed, Kagami found it hard to believe that Uchiha Shinichi could have prepared everything already.

So there were only two possibilities.

Either Uchiha Shinichi was charging ahead recklessly...

Or Obito was supporting him from behind the scenes.

Inside the house, Rei had also sensed that something wasn’t quite right. She hurried onto the balcony and quietly asked Kagami, "Kagami, did something happen?"

Gently stroking Rei’s hair, Kagami reassured her in a warm voice, "The village is under such tight security, and the Third Hokage himself is here. What could possibly happen? Don’t worry yourself over nothing."

"But..."

Rei gazed into the night.

Even now, groups of two or three shinobi could still be seen making their way toward the Hokage Building.

The sight left her deeply uneasy.

Having lived through both the Third Shinobi World War and the Nine-Tails’ attack, even the slightest disturbance in the village would instinctively fill Rei with fear and unease.

"Maybe there’s just some emergency mission." After casually making up an excuse, Kagami smiled as though nothing was wrong. "Be good and head back to the clan compound first. With the Clan Head there, you should be safe. I’ll go find out what’s happening, then meet up with you at the compound."

Rei hurriedly said, "Why don’t we just go to the clan compound together?"

Kagami explained, "Although I’ve been suspended, officially I’m still a member of the ANBU directly under the Hokage. If something really has happened in the village, then whether out of duty or obligation, I should at least go take a look."

Rei knew about Kagami’s status as an ANBU, so she could only nod.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

After seeing Rei off, Kagami immediately performed the Shadow Clone Technique, leaving a shadow clone behind at home. His true body then changed into a black cloak and put on an ordinary black mask.

Next, he chewed the fruit of a Snakestripe Herb.

The fruit of the Snakestripe Herb possessed no earth-shattering abilities. Its sole effect was to alter a person’s scent, rendering any method of tracking by smell ineffective.

Kagami made mistakes.

But he never made the same mistake twice.

Previously, it had been precisely because of his scent that he was ambushed by Iwagakure’s Beheading Squad in the Land of Bears. From that point onward, whenever Kagami took action, he always concealed his scent.

Once all his preparations were complete, his figure silently disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Kagami’s first destination was the Hokage Building. Only by going there first could he infer what exactly had happened and how far the situation had already developed.

Taking advantage of his Byakugan, Kagami silently slipped into a civilian residence not far from the Hokage Building. After knocking the homeowner unconscious, he stood by the window and observed the Hokage Building from a distance.

At this moment, the entire Hokage Building was brightly lit.

Dozens of shinobi had gathered in the plaza out front, and new arrivals continued to appear from time to time.

Shifting his gaze away from the plaza and toward the Hokage Building itself, Kagami quickly discovered that at least ten ANBU squads had already assembled inside.

Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, Kagami mused, "The Hokage Building hasn’t been attacked. In that case, Uchiha Shinichi’s target for revenge must be Root!"

The Third Hokage had gathered a large number of shinobi, yet he hadn’t ordered the civilians to evacuate.

From this fact alone, Kagami could determine that the Uchiha Clan probably hadn’t joined the rebellion. The shinobi the Third had assembled were most likely there to monitor and guard against the Uchiha Clan.

Otherwise, a single Uchiha Shinichi wouldn’t have been enough to put the entire village on such high alert.

Having figured this out, Kagami’s figure flickered away as he rushed toward Root’s base.

Root’s headquarters was located in one corner of the village.

By the time Kagami arrived, he discovered that the two guards stationed at the entrance to the base were already lying in pools of blood.

"So his target really was this place!"

With that thought flashing through his mind, Kagami’s figure blurred as he slipped directly into Root’s base.

The base was deathly silent.

Only the thick scent of blood lingering in the air told Kagami that a brutal and bloody battle had taken place here not long ago.

Following the underground passageways, Kagami made his way deeper into Root’s headquarters step by step.

Along the way, he came across the corpses of seven or eight Root shinobi.

Every single one of them had been killed by a single slash across the throat. There wasn’t even an extra trace of emotion left on their faces.

Without a doubt, when these Root shinobi were killed, either they had been caught in a genjutsu...

Or their enemy had been so fast that they hadn’t even had time to react!

"That guy’s strength has increased this much!?"

The gruesome deaths of these Root shinobi caused Kagami to quietly raise his guard.

The extent of Uchiha Shinichi’s improvement had already exceeded his expectations.

After turning several corners, the passage ahead suddenly opened up into a much wider area.

Kagami immediately pulled himself back behind the corner, because several dozen meters ahead, he spotted four fully armed Root shinobi standing guard.

"Even at a time like this, there’s still an entire squad stationed here. Nine times out of ten, this must be Root’s secret vault!"

As Kagami considered this, his hand quietly slipped into his ninja tool pouch.

The reason he had infiltrated Root’s base this time was precisely to take advantage of the heaven-sent opportunity created by Uchiha Shinichi’s rampage and loot Danzo’s collection.

After all, whether it was Root’s forbidden technique scrolls or the results of Danzo’s human experiments...

They were exactly what Kagami desperately needed right now.

Having made up his mind, Kagami immediately lunged out.

With his current strength, even without entering Tenseigan Chakra Mode, taking down four Root shinobi in close combat wouldn’t pose much of a problem.

"Who’s there?!"

"Enemy attack!"

The instant Kagami revealed himself, the Root shinobi cried out in alarm.

However, the person they were shouting at...

Wasn’t Kagami, who was charging straight toward them.

It was the masked man who had suddenly materialized out of thin air from a swirling vortex!

In the blink of an eye, two Root shinobi died at Kagami’s hands, while the other two were thrown into the vortex by the masked man.

In just a single instant, all four Root shinobi had somehow been eliminated by the completely unintentional teamwork of Kagami and the masked man.

Once all the Root shinobi had been dealt with, the two figures—both wearing masks and draped in black cloaks—stood facing each other from a distance.

For a moment...

The atmosphere became rather awkward.

Running into Obito here left Kagami extremely annoyed.

And the masked Obito also seemed completely unprepared for someone else to suddenly jump in and interfere.

Especially when that someone...

Was, just like him, wearing a mask and dressed in a cloak.

And so, the two masked, black-cloaked men simply stood there, facing each other in front of what appeared to be the entrance to Root’s secret vault...